Towering above the treetops, visible all the way from Airport Road in Naples, is a Sprint cell phone tower - smack dab in the middle of Poinciana Elementary School's parking lot.

"Of course we think it's appalling," said neighboring Coach House Way HOA President Ellen Goldman. "I can see it from my house. I can see it from my pool in the morning when I try to exercise."

Since the pole popped up in August, parents and neighbors have been outraged about the possible health and aesthetic consequences.

"One day they came home from work and there it was," said Goldman's attorney, Patrick White.

Goldman has led the campaign to bring it down. In September she said the school board agreed to review the issue. Then, a month later, board members gave both sides three weeks to try to work it out amongst themselves.

Protestors proposed three different sites in Poinciana's parking lot closer to Airport Road, but Sprint said it wasn't waiting any longer or paying any more money to move it.

And just days before that meeting, Sprint sent a letter to the school district saying it wasn't budging. Then in another letter this week, Sprint reiterated as far as it's concerned the tower will stay.

"You might draw the conclusion that it was the intent from the beginning to simply spin the wheels," said White.

In one of the letters Sprint sent out, it said, "Sufficient wireless coverage at a school significantly increases the likelihood that wireless signal within the school will be available, which can also benefit public safety."

"We did take their concerns very seriously. We are sympathetic to their concerns, but we went through the proper vetting process to get this tower up," Sprint Communications Representative Crystal Davis said.

The school district said it receives more than $58,000 per year for three other cell towers on Collier school campuses.

On Thursday, district officials wouldn't comment on the new tower at Poinciana Elementary, preferring to wait until next week's school board meeting.

"We're hoping they'll agree to put in significant landscaping to block the tower from view," said Goldman.